BRISBANE, Thursday 07 August 2025 — New figures from the Queensland Government show deforestation in Queensland is the worst in the nation and worsening under the current national environment law, with 332,015ha of land, including endangered ecosystems and koala habitat, wiped out as reported in the latest Statewide Landcover and Trees Study report (SLATS).
The new figures reveal that the majority (86%) of forest and bushland in Queensland was cleared for pasture conversion, primarily for beef production. The new figures also reveal a shocking 8% increase in the bulldozing of remnant forest – native forest that has never been cleared and is home to endangered and endemic species like koalas and gliders. Deforestation in the Great Barrier Reef catchment accounted for almost half (44%) of the state’s total clearing, an increase on the previous year, flying in the face of promised reef protection.
It comes as the federal government prepares to overhaul Australia’s broken nature laws through the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, which currently allows native forest logging and most agricultural deforestation.
Gemma Plesman, Greenpeace Australia Pacific Senior Campaigner, said:
“The data is devastating, and a big red flag for Australia’s national environment law. The need for stronger protections is bleedingly obvious. These figures show that the size of land bulldozed in Queensland in just one year is double the size of London.
“In 2018, the Queensland government changed the vegetation management laws with the aim of protecting remnant and native forests, but these new figures paint a grim and clear picture that nature protection must be a federal government-scale job.
“Our national environment law is broken and failing to prevent nature destruction – Queensland proves it. Destructive businesses are exempt under the current act, using loopholes to wipe out koala habitat and destroy old growth, and putting pressure on an already threatened Great Barrier Reef. Queensland’s national treasures are at risk under the current Act.
“Environment Minister Murray Watt has the opportunity to put nature first in Australia’s reformed nature laws – we’re calling on Minister Watt to put forward a strong EPBC Act that will protect Australia’s nature and wildlife, and close the loopholes for destructive businesses bulldozing our forests”
—ENDS—
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Kimberley Bernard on +61 407 581 404 or [email protected]
Notes to Editor
High res images and footage of recent deforestation can be found here
